Bream Beds and Side Imaging

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Originally Posted by dwaw

would anybody agree that the deeper the beds, the bigger the gills??

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My experiance tells me that they are.

one of my nearby lakes starts out relatively narrow, steep-walled and 25-40ft deep. then it widens out to the main portion with several feeder arms. it has decent crappie but the only gills i've caught are in the 6" range. i'm really hoping to find some deep beds on the si too.

Russ Bailey has a good video on his Midwest Crappie site. Richard Williams shows how you can find them and what it looks like when fish are on them. I was surprised to see how far off the bank most of these bluegill beds were.

Very cool images! I need to start saving so I can get a SI unit.

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

I've always heard that, but I've caught some BIG gills and shellcrackers on beds so shallow their backs were almost out of the water.

I think it depends on the location. I don't doubt that, in the bigger lakes, the big boys and girls spawn deeper than most.

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Off the oxbows and coves in the St. Johns River in FL, I used to get into bigger shellcracker and bull bluegill at different times of year. Most related to structure that broke the current but when beds were found we would troll over them and have exceptional days. I've gotten big bulls that I couldn't get my hand around in 2' of water, reliably. I think it's just their comfort zone. The 'crackers off lake Dexter were in 5 fow or more though. Anytime you went. Had a metal boat and you could hear the snailshells hit the boat that were floating after becoming dinner, great fun.

death I agree with you, I have caught some huge bream from very shallow water. They were so close to the bank that sometimes waves from boats would wash them up on the bank

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

I've always heard that, but I've caught some BIG gills and shellcrackers on beds so shallow their backs were almost out of the water.

I think it depends on the location. I don't doubt that, in the bigger lakes, the big boys and girls spawn deeper than most.

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Will say with Side Scan, you see it ALL...

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Originally Posted by bluegilln

It works for gill beds. Only reason I bought mine. I have a 987 and a 997, work equally. Very handy in July when beds are way out on main lake (KY and Barkley).

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I've been talking myself out of spending that much money for a while. After seeing these pics, I ordered mine. ;)

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Originally Posted by sbcpower

I've been talking myself out of spending that much money for a while. After seeing these pics, I ordered mine. ;)

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Well you can forget about cleaning fish for the next few months! After I got mine 4-5 years ago I cruised around for hours looking at stuff and fishing very little. BUT if my crapped out tomorrow i would order a new one right away!

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Originally Posted by Dickieboy

Well you can forget about cleaning fish for the next few months! After I got mine 4-5 years ago I cruised around for hours looking at stuff and fishing very little.

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I've already made plans to do just that! Thumbs Up Prolly lose a LOT of sleep for the first week reading. I was told the owner's manual looks like a dictionary. :rolleyes: